1 / 14

R70,000 needed urgently for Major maintenance on the organ

R70,000 needed urgently for Major maintenance on the organ. Why do we have to spend this money? “But we spent a fortune very recently…” What exactly is it for? Where the congregation can help . R70,000 needed for the organ Why do we have to spend this money?.

ewa
Download Presentation

R70,000 needed urgently for Major maintenance on the organ

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. R70,000 needed urgently forMajor maintenance on the organ • Why do we have to spend this money? • “But we spent a fortune very recently…” • What exactly is it for? • Where the congregation can help

  2. R70,000 needed for the organWhy do we have to spend this money? • The organ is 35 years old – it needs periodic repairs, just as any item of equipment does • Parts of the organ are 40 years old • If we don’t spend now it will break down more often and eventually become unusable • The old communication system between organist and pipes is becoming unreliable

  3. R70,000 needed for the organ“But we spent a fortune very recently…” • Previous spending covered fixing basic design flaws from 1974, replacing wind reservoir seals, and substantially upgrading the instrument with a completely replaced Swell organ in 2000 for R100,000 • The electrical links between the console and the pipes have never required attention but are now worn out • Equivalent of a lubrication service on one’s car – we all understand that having to spend money on new tyres a month later can sometimes be required That was nine years ago!

  4. R70,000 needed for the organWhat exactly is the money needed for? • Replace 35 / 40 year old switches and links between the console and the pipes • The console is where the organist plays • The pipes and wind systems are on opposite side of the chancel – that’s where the sound is produced Let’s now take a look at what we have, and then where we are headed…

  5. The Console Drawstops to control which timbres and harmonics are in use Manuals (keyboards for hands) Thumb pistons to call up pre-set combinations of stops Swell pedals to set shutter positions Toe pistons Pedal keys played by feet with same dexterity as the hands

  6. The present organ mechanism Fans generate wind Wind stored in reservoirs called “bellows” Soundboards holding pipes admit air to pipes when valves open Console controls stops & keys Signals from organist are sent via 215 relays, hundreds of switches and 900+ wires to the organ chamber

  7. Part of the old system in the console Magnets pull down 61 switches each, causing wiper contacts to touch busbars

  8. Part of the old system in the chamber Very fine contact wires – now breaking or burning out DC magnets move the wipers to switch current to wires leading to pipe valves – sticking and slow to operate at times

  9. Part of the old system – chaotic wiring makes fault-finding & repairs expensive

  10. New system will be all electronicNo clunky technology!15 years at Cathedral – superbly reliable Fans generate wind Wind stored in reservoirs called “bellows” Soundboards holding pipes admit air to pipes when valves open Decoder controls valves, stops, shutters Console controls stops & keys Signals from organist sent by multiplex communication link to organ chamber

  11. R70,000 needed for the organWhere we need your help please • Total cost: R170,000 • Church funds committed: R100,000 • Shortfall: R70,000 The transmission system is on its way already. Landed cost will be R140,000. We are short of R40,000. Fitting new system will require a further R30,000.

  12. R70,000 is not as much as it sounds • St Martin’s organ has 3,154 pipes, 3 manuals – the finest parish church organ in Johannesburg • St George’s, Parktown is aiming for 2 manuals, approx 1,300 pipes: cost of R8m to R10m • A small price to pay for enabling the very best worship of which we are capable • No other parish can invite world-class organists to play (e.g. organists of Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral London, Blackburn, Manchester, Gloucester Cathedrals) as we have

  13. R70,000 needed for the organPlease donate generously • We shall hold some fund-raisers but time is not on our side • Just 35 people giving R2,000 each would do it! • When all is said and done it is good stewardship to care for a wonderful asset, both in a practical sense and financially (replacement cost R20 million+)

  14. Please donate generously to this project Donations can be sent by cheque payable to St Martin’s in the Veld or by direct deposit to our account, details of which are as follows:

More Related